Whumptober 2019 - 29 - Numb
by DinerGuy
Summary: 2018 reboot. A blast of cold air rushed out to greet them, and Magnum felt his stomach sink even more. He'd known exactly what the room was before the man had even opened the door; they were in a meat-packing facility, after all, and the appearance of a refrigerator door was impossible to misidentify. What it meant for him and Higgy… Well, it wasn't good.


_A/N: I had the idea for this one almost as soon as I read the prompt, although it took a little time to work out the logistics. I think I like how it came out though!_

_Standard disclaimers apply._

* * *

"Where is Drake Layden?"

Magnum had lost count of how many times he'd heard the question, just as he'd long since lost track of how many times he'd felt the painful consequences of not answering.

The fist to his stomach had him leaning over, gagging and coughing. The motion wrenched at his arms that were being held behind him by two muscular goons, and Magnum felt himself sagging against their grip as his vision faded with the follow-up blow.

And then he heard the question again, as if from a distance, and then Higgins' pained gasp in the next moment.

Shaking the fog from his mind, he looked over to see Higgy being practically held up by the large man pinning her arms behind her. Magnum pulled against his captors as if he could somehow break free and take them on, but he only succeeded in getting his right arm twisted harshly enough to force a growl of pain from him at the sensation that traveled up through his shoulder at the movement.

Their interrogator sighed as he glared between the two prisoners. "Fine. If neither of you wants to talk now, we'll give you a few hours and see what happens."

The room they were currently in had a large metal door at one end, and Magnum expected to be dumped unceremoniously on the floor and then locked in, perhaps after a few more blows from the goons. So when he was shoved forward, pushed by the men behind him who twisted his arms further, he found himself surprised by the turn of events.

Magnum could see Higgins being dragged ahead of him, her feet tripping over themselves in an attempt to keep up with the goon who had to be close to a foot taller than she was. But he couldn't do anything to even try to help her, as he found himself stumbling when one of the men behind him twisted his arm even more roughly.

"Don't look at her," the guy growled. "Just keep walking."

Clenching his jaw, Magnum just focused on keeping his footing and staring straight ahead. At this point, it probably wasn't the best idea to reply—even if he _had _a decent retort, which he wasn't actually sure he did at the moment.

They rounded a corner at the far end of the hall, took another turn, then stopped in front of a large metal door. There was a latch on one end, and the man who had been interrogating Magnum and Higgins lifted the handle to pull the door open.

A blast of cold air rushed out to greet them, and Magnum felt his stomach sink even more. He'd known exactly what the room was before the man had even opened the door; they were in a meat-packing facility, after all, and the appearance of a refrigerator door was impossible to misidentify. What it meant for him and Higgy… Well, it wasn't good.

The interrogator stepped back to allow the three goons to manhandle the prisoners inside. Magnum slipped on the slick tiles of the walk-in fridge, and it was only the hands on his biceps that kept him upright. His stomach and chest still ached, as did his jaw, and he gulped back a groan at the pain that shot through his side as he was shoved toward the back of the fridge.

There were more footsteps nearby that told Magnum the others were right behind him, and then he found himself being spun around so his back was shoved up against the wall. He could feel the cold metal through his shirt and couldn't suppress the shiver that rippled through him.

One of the goons pressed a beefy forearm up against Magnum's throat, pinning him to the wall and making it almost impossible to breathe. Magnum gasped even as he felt his arms being yanked in front of him, then a rough rope wound around his wrists. His vision was starting to go spotty and his knees weak, and, by the time the goon holding him stepped back, Magnum would have collapsed to the floor—except for his arms being suddenly wrenched above his head.

He muffled a yell as the movement pulled at his injured side, sagging as his legs finally gave out at the pain that rolled over him. Even as he still struggled to focus, he could feel himself being hauled upward by his arms, and, when his vision cleared, he realized a second rope had been run between his wrists and then tied around a metal bar that ran the length of the refrigerated room, holding him in an upright position with his arms above his head. It had probably once been used for hanging sides of beef, but, now that the fridge was empty, it was being used for a much more sinister purpose.

His feet were just touching the floor, not quite enough for him to stand flat-footed; instead he was forced to balance on the balls of his feet to keep the pressure off of his shoulders.

A choked cry from across the way had his head flying up so fast that his vision went fuzzy again, and Magnum shook his head, struggling to bring the room back into focus.

He could see Higgins standing near the opposite wall, her hands now also bound and tied to the metal bar that ran parallel to the one above his head. But, being five inches shorter than Magnum, she was having to stretch much farther to accommodate the way the ropes held her arms above her head.

And then his gaze traveled downward, and Magnum's eyes widened slightly. She wasn't just stretching farther… Unlike how he was just tall enough to reach the bar without much strain, Higgins was completely off of her feet. Her toes barely brushed the floor, and all of her weight was hanging from the ropes around her wrists. She had her jaw clenched tightly as she instinctively tugged against her bonds, but nothing gave, and she only managed to send herself twisting around rather than gain any foothold.

Magnum could tell she was already starting to have trouble breathing properly, but, before he could say anything, their interrogator stepped into his line of view.

The man grinned at the look on his prisoner's face. "Looks like she might have a hard time of it," he remarked.

Magnum growled and jerked against his restraints. "You have to let her down," he snapped, not caring if arguing earned him any blows. "She won't be able to breathe if you leave her like that!"

"Hm." The man arched an eyebrow. "Then I suppose you should just tell me where Layden is."

But Higgins' voice interrupted whatever Magnum was about to say. "No!" she snapped, even though she sounded breathless. "We're not… telling you… anything."

The man shook his head. "Well, then, maybe us leaving you here for a while will make you more willing to talk. After all, this place does get pretty cold when you've been in here for more than a minute." He looked between the two strung-up prisoners. "We'll be back to check on you in a little while."

And then he turned and stalked out of the fridge, the three goons behind him. The one behind Magnum gave him a savage shove with his shoulder as he moved past to follow the others, sending Magnum falling forward and twisting around on the rope as his feet scrabbled for purchase. The ropes tore at his wrists as he struggled to regain his footing—

Just as the door slammed shut and the entire room was plunged into darkness.

Magnum realized the men had flipped the lightswitch outside of the door, even as the sound of the latch clicking shut echoed through the small metal room.

* * *

When Magnum and Higgins didn't show up for the lunch plans the four friends had made, Rick and T.C. thought the two had just gotten caught up in a case—but then an hour went by with no returned calls or texts. And, while that was par for the course for Magnum, Higgins was usually much better at staying in touch. At the least, she would have replied via text with an apology and an explanation—but there was nothing.

They tried telling each themselves that everything was fine; the two were probably just investigating a case and tied up with whatever running around Oahu they were doing. There was bound to be a simple explanation for everything.

They tried to put their worry to the backs of their minds as they went by La Mariana to take care of some odds and ends they'd been needing to do. They were even successful at not worrying over their unanswered calls and texts—until Rick's phone rang and they both glanced at it to see Katsumoto's name on the screen.

Eyes wide, Rick snatched it up and hit the button for speakerphone. "Katsumoto! What's up?" He tried to hide the concern that he knew was in his voice.

Unfortunately, the detective's answer brought all of their worst fears rushing back to the front of their minds. _"I have a guy in my interrogation room who wants to cut a deal in exchange for information on Magnum and Higgins' whereabouts. Please tell me he's just grasping at straws."_

Rick and T.C. exchanged glances, and the pause was all the answer the other man needed.

_"When's the last time either of you heard from them?"_

"Around nine this morning," T.C. offered. "We were supposed to meet for lunch, but they never showed, and they're not answering their phones."

_"Okay. I'll get some people on it right now. I'll be in touch."_

Before Katsumoto could hang up, Rick jumped in again. "Hey, we're helping with this. Just tell us what we can do."

_"Do you know anything about their current cases? Any names, locations, possible motives for someone having taken them?"_

The two friends looked at each other again as their mental wheels spun, and then Rick raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing right off, but we'll see what we can dig up. Let us know what you get from your guy?"

Katsumoto sighed, then replied, _"Will do," _before ending the call.

"It's gonna take him some time to get that paperwork together," T.C. remarked grimly. "And that's if he can even get a deal approved in the first place."

With a nod, Rick started tapping at his phone screen. "That's why we're not waiting. I'll reach out to a couple of guys I know, see if they've heard anything."

T.C. lifted an eyebrow. "You think Abby can help get the deal through?" He was already tapping at his own phone, not waiting for Rick's agreement. "She's a defense attorney; I bet she has some pull with people higher up the legal food chain."

"Great idea," Rick replied with a nod, glancing up. "And I'll call Kumu; she might be able to find notes or something at the estate depending on what kind of work Thomas and Jules were doing before they left."

T.C. put his phone to his ear, hoping it wouldn't go to voicemail. He didn't want to have to leave the news on a recording for Abby to listen to later. And then he sighed in relief as she picked up—although nerves over having to deliver the news were building as he heard her voice.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey, Abby. It's T.C."

_"Oh, hey, T.C.! What's up?"_

He felt guilty over the cheerfulness he could hear in her voice that he knew he was about to disrupt. "Hey, I have a favor to ask."

_"Okay, shoot."_

"Do you know anyone who can help put a deal through for a criminal informant?" he asked slowly.

Abby sounded confused as she processed the question. _"Yes, but… T.C., what is this about? Is someone you know in trouble?"_

He sighed. "Are you sitting down?" he asked gently.

_"Yes… why? What's going on?"_

There was no easy way to say it, so he just bit the bullet. "Thomas is missing."

_"What?" _Her exclamation was so loud that Rick glanced up from across the table to give T.C. a sympathetic look.

"We don't know exactly what's happened yet, but he and Higgins disappeared earlier today. Detective Katsumoto has a guy at the station who claims to have information on where Thomas is right now, but this guy wants a deal before he gives up anything." T.C. took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to give you the news, but we were hoping you could help out."

There was a brief pause, then she cleared her throat. _"Right, of course. Of course I'll help. I'll make some calls."_

* * *

Magnum shivered at the way the cold air inside the fridge was seeping through his skin. The shorts and button-down he'd put on that morning had been fine for the warm day, but they were nowhere near decent protection against the low temperatures he was now facing. He felt the pull of his injuries every time his body trembled, but he couldn't stop the reaction to the chill. He couldn't even wrap his arms around himself to try to preserve some of his body heat with the way his hands were held overhead.

In the pitch dark of the room, he couldn't see to try to figure out the knots holding him in place, and his attempts at sawing them back and forth to fray the ropes had done nothing but cause him to lose his balance and have to scramble to regain his footing. And he hadn't been able to gain any slack either; the men had tied him so tightly that he could already feel his hands going numb and tingly with the lack of blood flow.

Across from him, he could hear Higgins' increasingly labored breathing, and it was killing him. He knew that, however bad off he was, her situation was worse. Even if she could manage to get her hands on the ropes to pull herself up and relieve the pressure on her chest, there was no way she could sustain that for long. Not under normal conditions and _especially _not in these frigid temperatures.

He knew she had to be as cold as he was, if not colder. At least she was wearing jeans, but she was also wearing a sleeveless top that had seemed pretty thin… He wasn't sure how much protection it offered, but he knew it couldn't be a lot. He couldn't see how she was doing, but, if the panting he thought he could make out from her direction was any indication, it wasn't good.

He was cold, but she was cold _and _struggling to breathe—and he couldn't do a thing. Anger at the men who'd locked them in burned inside of him. It hadn't been enough for them to just lock him and Higgy inside the cooler; Magnum supposed they didn't want the two of them being able to huddle for warmth. It made sense, in a twisted way. Tied up like they were, unable to see each other… it was a way of adding to the torment for them both. Higgy because of the pain and the struggle to breathe and him because he had to just stand there and hear her struggles and know she was suffering.

"Higgy, how you doing?" he ventured to ask, clenching his fists above his head in an attempt to stop any tremors from making it into his voice. "You still with me?"

"I…'m fine," she replied slowly.

Magnum winced at the breathless sound of her words, but he knew she wouldn't put up with him arguing she wasn't okay. "How long do you think they'll leave us in here before coming back?" he asked instead.

"Don't… know." Higgins coughed, and the raspy sound of it had him biting his lip.

He wasn't sure how much longer she could last, honestly, between the frigid temperatures and the way she obviously couldn't breathe. Even between her two short sentences in the span of the past minute, he'd heard a noticeable difference. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he might have to—

"Don't… do it."

He could swear she was a mind-reader sometimes. "I didn't say anything!"

"I… I know… you," she replied slowly. "You're think… 'bout it…" She trailed off with a cough. "But you… _can't."_

"But you can't keep going like this," he said, knowing he sounded desperate. "I won't tell them where Layden actually is," he added quickly before she could retort again. "Just enough information that they'll let you down."

Higgy coughed again. "You do realize… they'll prob'ly… kill us anyway." She paused. "And if… if they don't… then _I _will… whenever we… get out."

"But, Higgy—"

"I've been… through worse." Her breath hitched, and her voice trailed off as she fell silent.

For a brief, panicked moment, he thought she might have passed out. "Higgins?"

"What?" she asked weakly, and he sighed in relief at the sound, even while he worried over just how fragile her voice seemed. In the short time they'd been left in the dark, she'd seemed to have deteriorated even faster than he'd feared.

"Just making sure you didn't fall asleep on me," he joked. He strained his eyes looking toward where he knew she was tied up opposite him, unable to see a thing.

"Still… here."

They both fell silent then, but Magnum could still hear her labored breathing, and he clenched his jaw as he started pulling at his ropes again. He had to find a way out; there was no question about it. Either he got himself free and got Higgins down or he told their captors what they wanted to know in exchange for letting her down. But he couldn't just stand there and listen to Higgy suffer and do nothing. That was not an option.

He could feel blood starting to trickle down his forearm, but he ignored it and gritted his teeth. If he just pulled a little harder, twisted his hands just a little differently… But nothing gave, and he finally had to stop, sagging against his bonds as he tried to catch his breath. He could feel the pull against his shoulders as his panting echoed in his ears along with the beating of his heart. He was sure he should be sweating, but it was so cold…

Higgins hadn't said a word in the past few minutes, but he could still hear her wheezing, and it gave him an even more renewed sense of determination to get free. There had to be some way he could free himself… but how?

It was impossible to see anything in the dark, so he tried to feel for the knot in the rope that held his hands above his head, but his fingers were so numb between the frigid temperatures and the lack of blood flow that he couldn't feel a thing. He sighed in frustration and racked his brain, trying to think of something he may have overlooked previously. There had to be _something._ He closed his eyes to concentrate; even though it made no difference in what he could see, he hoped the action would prompt him to remember something he'd forgotten.

Magnum tried to envision what the inside of the refrigerator had looked like before the lights had gone off. It had been something of a blur, if he were being honest, but he _had _seen it, if only clearly for a few moments. The small, metal room had been bare, with no shelves or hooks to be seen, just the bars that ran crosswise around the edges—the bars he and Higgy were currently tied to.

And then his eyes flew open in realization. The bars _hadn't_ been perfectly smooth. He recalled a rough, sharp-looking edge partway along the one Higgins was tied to, where two pieces of metal seemed to have been connected. One of the pieces had stuck out over the other, and he found himself wondering if a similar seam existed on the bar above his own head. He wasn't even sure it would be enough to wear into the rope, but he had to try. There really was no other option; he had no idea when the men would come back to check on them, and there was no way they'd hear him yelling through the thick walls and door of the fridge.

He raised his hands, wincing in pain as he had to stand on his tiptoes to reach the bar. Then, slowly, haltingly, he moved a few steps down, feeling his legs trembling as his numb fingers rubbed along the ice-cold metal. He was just looking for the seam, trying to feel for a lip that would tell him it was there.

It felt like an eternity before he reached it, and his fingers were so stiff he almost passed it up. But then he froze and reached backward, realizing that he had actually found what he was looking for. With the lack of feeling in his hands, he couldn't tell how sharp it was, but it was there all the same.

Magnum slowly maneuvered the loop of rope to sit over the seam and started pulling it back and forth. It was slow going, and his arms and legs were burning, but he couldn't give up. Not now. He pulled harder, tried to move faster, ignored the way _everything_ hurt at the effort.

He had to stop after a few minutes to rest, unable to support his weight any longer. He sagged against the ropes, taking a deep breath that burned his lungs with how cold the air was. The feeling of failure clawed at his chest, telling him he was never going to get free, that he'd have to stand there and listen to Higgins slowly dying for his inability to get her free, his unwillingness to tell the goons what they wanted to know.

Then he shook his head. No, he couldn't afford to think that way. He had to keep pressing forward. He _had _to. Taking another breath, he groaned as he pushed himself back to his feet and then started in on the rope again.

He went for as long as he could before he had to sink back down again. His legs felt like they were on fire, even as he also felt like he was about to freeze to death. He wondered how long it would take to get hypothermia in a refrigerator—and he wondered how long they'd actually been trapped inside. It could have been hours or it could have been twenty minutes; the cold and the darkness added to his injuries were thoroughly disorienting him.

He would rest for a few more minutes, then he'd start again on the ropes. Which, now that he thought about it, felt just a little looser than they had. A flash of hope shot through him. Did that mean his plan was working? He couldn't see how far along he'd gotten, but maybe—

Magnum yelped in surprise as the ropes gave with a _pop, _and he suddenly crashed to the floor.

Apparently he had gotten farther than he'd thought.

He didn't stop to consider how bad of a bruise the fall was going to leave. The important thing was to finish getting his hands free so he could actually help Higgins. He considered trying to use the seam on the bar again but quickly abandoned that idea. He couldn't get his hands up that high again—and they hadn't even reached it all the way before.

Twisting his hands to test the coils around his wrists, he thought he felt a little bit of give in them this time. All of his moving around while hanging from the bonds must have helped create some slack. It wasn't much, but maybe he could still take advantage of it.

Ignoring the way the ropes were tearing at his wrists, which he could feel even through the numbness, he determinedly tugged and shifted against his bonds. He had to make this work; he had no other choice. And so he just gritted his teeth and kept twisting and pulling until he was finally able to yank his right hand through the ropes. It was a tight squeeze, and he couldn't hide the reflexive growl of pain at the strange popping sensation in his hand. But he didn't stop to consider what he'd just torn or dislocated; he'd worry about that later.

Right now, all that mattered was Higgy.

* * *

_"We've got it!"_

Rick and T.C. sat up a little straighter as Katsumoto's voice came over the phone's speaker. Their questions of "What?" and "Where?" blended together, but they were pretty sure the detective knew exactly what they meant.

_"They're at the old Kailua Farms facility."_

As much as he wanted to know why his friends had gone there, Rick didn't exactly care at the moment. The only thing that mattered was finding Thomas and Juliet. The hows and whys could wait until later.

"We'll meet you there," was all Rick said, and Katsumoto didn't even try to argue.

They made the trip in record time, pulling in just behind Katsumoto's vehicle and several marked units. Rick and T.C. scrambled out of the Porsche, grabbing their guns as they slammed the car doors and headed over to join the police.

Katsumoto raised an eyebrow at their weapons but didn't say anything. "Stay behind me. We're expecting multiple hostiles. Do not engage unless you have to, got it? We don't know exactly where Magnum and Higgins are, and this place is massive; we need these guys to tell us where they're holding them."

The friends nodded, but the looks on their faces said they were going to do whatever it took to save the missing duo—legally or illegally.

They moved in then, obeying—at least for the moment—Katsumoto's order. It was less than a minute between breaching the front door and arriving at a room that seemed to have functioned as a staff break area at one point. The group of men reclining in chairs around the space were not prepared for an entire SWAT unit to storm in on them, and only one managed to get his weapon out before they were all on the ground and being handcuffed.

It only took a few minutes for Katsumoto—backed by a very angry T.C. and Rick—to convince one of the criminals to tell them where Magnum and Higgins were being held.

The word "fridge" sent their hearts plummeting into their stomachs, and the man's claim that the P.I.s had been inside for long over two hours already had Rick seeing red.

"We were gonna check on 'em soon, see if they softened up enough to talk," the guy shrugged. "Figured between us crankin' the temp down and them bein' beat up, it wouldn't take much longer."

_"Where?" _T.C.'s voice was full of ice, and the man blanched.

And then they were racing for the back of the facility, Katsumoto barking orders for someone to call two ambulances before following on Rick and T.C.'s heels.

T.C. was the first to the refrigerator door, and he threw it open in seconds. The pitch dark interior was illuminated by the light from the hallway, and no one moved to turn on the lights inside, knowing the prisoners had been in the dark for so long already.

They could see the two huddled together near the wall, Magnum hunched over Higgins, who was slumped forward. Her hands were bound in front of her, which T.C. made short work of, although all three men winced as they saw the way the ropes had dug into her skin when he gently pulled them away. Both were unconscious, and neither stirred even with the light and noise of the door opening.

"Thomas?" Rick called gently, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. He could feel how chilled the other man was through the fabric of Thomas's shirt, and he swallowed the anger bubbling up inside of him.

T.C. had a hand on Higgins' arm, and his grim expression told Rick just how cold she was as well. "Come on, Higgy baby. Can you hear me?" When she didn't move, he just clenched his jaw and scooped her up.

There was an exit door not far from the refrigerator, and Katsumoto already had it open to the sunlit day.

"Come on," the detective called as he jogged back over to the others. "Let's get them outside where it's warmer." He moved to help Rick with Magnum as T.C. carried Higgins out.

They soon had the two limp forms lying in the grass near the sidewalk. They desperately wanted to do something to help, to start rubbing their friends' hands to try to restore circulation and warm them up, but they knew that could make things worse. So they just crouched near them, wishing for blankets or jackets, trying—and failing—to wake them by calling their names and talking to them.

Magnum and Higgins' conditions were painful for any of the three men to take in; besides the blue tint to their lips and fingers that told the tale of having been trapped in the cold, they each sported bruises and blood on their faces, and a quick lift of their shirt hems—the boys almost couldn't bring themselves to check Higgins but necessity won out over their fear of her waking up just to kill them for it—revealed more injuries from whatever beatings the two had obviously endured before being locked up. And then their wrists were bruised and bloody as well, with Magnum's being much worse.

"Thomas?" Rick tried, leaning over his friend and putting a hand on his face as if to try to stir him. He winced at the way it felt so cold to his touch, even after being out in the direct sunlight. "Come on, man; open your eyes for me."

But there was no response.

T.C. was having a similar lack of success with Higgins, and they both exchanged worried looks.

Thankfully, in the next moment, the wail of sirens met their ears. They glanced up to see Katsumoto had already disappeared, and, before long, the paramedics had loaded both unconscious patients up and taken off for the hospital.

T.C. was in the back of one vehicle with Higgins while Rick rode with Magnum.

Rick texted Kumu en route while T.C. texted Abby, and the two women joined them at the hospital within minutes of the ambulances arriving. No one was allowed to go back at first, ordered instead to wait until the doctors had finished their examinations and decided what courses of action were needed.

Sitting in the waiting room, they exchanged what information they had. Abby had pulled every string she could think of and called in several favors and had been able to get the deal through for Katsumoto's prisoner. As soon as the papers had been signed and the man had revealed what he knew, the detective had jumped into action.

Rick and T.C. shared what they knew about what had happened, doing their best to gloss over the worst of it. The expressions on Kumu and Abby's faces said they knew the men were omitting information but weren't sure if they wanted the full details.

Katsumoto swung by about an hour later to update them on the case. They were all still waiting, and he was able to let them know everyone responsible was now on the way to prison. It seemed the gang had been after information on a witness Magnum and Higgins had for a case against the head of the criminal enterprise, and they'd been determined to get it in whatever way possible.

The doctors came out shortly after with the update that both Magnum and Higgins were still unconscious but going to make a full recovery. They initially insisted no one disturb either patient, but, between Kumu's relation to one doctor and Katsumoto's badge, the medical staff eventually relented. The stipulation was that all visitors had to sit quietly and not try to wake either patient, which they all agreed to without hesitation.

Katsumoto took his leave then with the others promising to update him the minute there was more news, and then the remaining four headed for the double room the doctors had placed Magnum and Higgins in—the reasoning being there might be disorientation when they awoke and being together might help minimize that.

Which was just fine with the little group that was soon settled into the stiff hospital chairs next to the beds. They didn't know how long it would take, but it didn't matter. All that mattered in that moment was that Magnum and Higgins were going to be okay.

* * *

_Fin._


End file.
